I wasn't told anything about these changes. I've been on VA Medical, again, for the last 8 years along with Medicare, a Medicare Supplement and Drug Plan. My last rotator cuff surgery and laser cataract surgeries were done thru Medicare, Supplement and Drug Plan. My PCP is a VA doctor and my prescriptions come from the VA, but haven't had a surgery done by the VA since 1988. I found out yesterday that I can use either public Urgent Care or the ER now and VA will pay for it. How much, I don't know. My last visit to the ER, here where we are now living, for the fall/eye injury I got, was totally paid for thru Medicare and my supplement. Apparently I had already paid my Medicare deductible earlier in the year for something. The VA Medical System here is so packed with Veterans, I can't even get an appointment to see a new VA doctor until January 2020! And, there is no x-rays done at the clinic here or anywhere nearby. For an x-ray, the VA would send me to a public x-ray place near where we live and VA would pay for it. Local Urgent Care places and ER are now taking Veteran's with VA Medical I.D.? Anyone here know about the changes?
I don’t know. I was told a few years ago that if I needed to go to the civilian hospital I just needed to call my VA team leader for an approval. I never tried it but I was told their wouldn’t be a problem if I did. For emergency visits to the hospital I was told to inform the staff of my VA affiliation and they would make the necessary arrangements with the VA.
Well, what I'm going to "test out" is....call my wife's doctors office and ask them if they will take my VA Medical card for services. I was also given a number to call to inform the VA of the public service I was getting. If the doctor's office tells me "yes, we do work with the VA for services", fine, BUT, if the they say "sorry, we don't accept VA at all." I will let the VA know and they can talk with the doctors office. I'd let both of them hassle it out...….if need be. What I'm also wondering is, which will pay more for medical services, the VA or my Medicare and Supplement? I do pay a co-pay with the VA, due to income, but I don't pay a month premium or deductible like I do with Medicare and month premium for the Supplement. I would think this new Program is for Veterans that can't afford Medicare and a Supplement as secondary medical insurance.
Veteran's Choice was set up to save Vets the difficulty of having to travel far to a VA doc or medical facility. You can use Non VA docs & facilities if you get permission from the VA first.
Do all non VA doctors and facilities accept Veterans with VA Medical ID cards? Wonder which doctors and facilities the VA wouldn't approve. Thing is, a lot of non VA doctors are backed up with patients just as much as the VA is.
Y'all can thank President Donald Trump for the change in VA. One of the promises he made was to look after our veterans better than they had been looked after.
Is it his fault that more and more former Servicemen are in the VA Medical System now? I don't think so!!
@Cody Fousnaugh , I mean you can thank him for being able to see a doctor outside of VA medical system instead of having to travel a long distance to a VA doctor or hospital. There are other things but, not being a veteran, I haven't checked to see what they are. I think one of them is being able to get your prescription filled at a local pharmacy. I'm not sure what you mean by your post.
Shirley said, "I think one of them is being able to get your prescription filled at a local pharmacy." No, all prescriptions are mailed from a VA Pharmacy, and local, doctor can be used under extenusting circumstances but VA must approve and VA usually makes arrangements with the local doctor or facility.
Never mind my last post, then. For general information, my last VA doctor wouldn't sign a document for me to get my VA prescriptions from a non-VA pharmacy. She told me that she almost had a legal matter happen due to signing one for a Veteran once. So, it's actually up to the VA doctor whether a Veteran can get meds thru a non-VA pharmacy or has to go thru the VA pharmacy.
Do y'all have to pay for prescriptions? My brother and his wife both had/have cancer. Their meds were thousands of dollars a month. I think the VA paid for them but I'm not sure.
You would THINK the VA would send everyone a letter with specific information. My brother goes to the VA and I'm quite sure he doesn't know he has options. The information is probably online, but not everyone checks their website.
Thanks @Bobby Cole for that bit of information about calling the VA for approval. This I didn't know and I'm not sure if my husband was aware of it either.
Well, perhaps the VA doesn't want non-VA medical to become overcrowded like they have become. Due to wife's last income and her possibly new income, we will have to continue the co-pay for VA services and meds. From my understanding, only "Service-Connected Injuries" are fully covered by the VA. I have no injuries like that.